us. the time is 4:59. i'm jon kelley. >> and i'm laura kbaugarcia-can. we have a like at times square. lights are still on there. sandy is continuing to impact the city, however, today. wall street will be closed for the second day in a row. we have team coverage of sandy, including her impact here on the west coast. marla tellez is compiling the newest video and images as we speak, ones like this one of a partial building collapse in new york city. stephanie traung is keeping an eye on the local flight cancellations as a result of sandy. >> we start with a look at the aftermath. so far it's killed a total of 16 people and continues to batter that northeast. millions right now without power and the damages are estimated to be in the billions. we will go out there to check things out here. coming up, daniel lee is live in cape may right now in new jersey

with a look at all this damage and the devastating destruction that has been left behind with the water slamming in. >> reporter: good morning. we're waking up to another stormy day her in cape may, new jersey. the rain from yesterday now replaced with strong winds. but here at the hotel that we stayed at, things seemed to be much better than in many parts of the northeast along the coast where people are waking up under water. and the bad news, sandy still isn't finished. at the height of the storm sandy turned streets into rivers and ripped roofs. sandy set a record 13-foot storm surge into new jersey flooding subways, tunnels and streets. >> this is a once in a long time storm. the surge is very high. >> reporter: at a medical center, a blown generator forced

emergency evacuations. in atlantic city, new jersey, floodwaters destroyed a portion of the world famous boardwalk. the national guard rescued at least two dozen people trapped in a shelter that lost power. >> i just think it should have been a little well -- thought out a little earlier in the dpa. >> reporter: to anyone else on the barrier island, governor chris christie offered little hope. >> this is now your responsibility. if you're still able to hear me, we need you to hunker down and get to the highest point possible. >> reporter: this superstorm wreaked havoc from connecticut to new york, stretching out more than 700 miles. strong winds at times over 80 miles an hour tore down trees and power lines. at least two homes in connecticut were destroyed by fire. and in queens another fire damaged more than 50 homes. several people have died because of sandy and millions have no power. across the nation, more than 12,000 flights have been cancelled. southwest virginia, parts of tennessee and the north carolina

mountains are all facing a winter storm warning through wednesday morning. this storm that could impact 60 million people isn't finished yet. another potentially dire situation north of us in northern new jersey where there are emergency evacuations under way for three towns that were hit by a sudden surge of water late last night. a couple thousand people needing rescue, so we will start to hear of more and more damage just like that as the day progresses and people start getting out and getting a sense of exactly what sandy has done. >> in fact new to our newsroom right now, incredible video showing more damage from that superstorm sandy. marla tellez joins us now with more. >> reporter: laura, good morning. these images coming into our newsroom are just overwhelming. it's a matter of where do we begin. we'll start in one of the hardest-hit cities, of course talking about the big apple, new york city. this is the scene in one part of

queens where a street looks more like a river. this is something, of course, queens has never experienced. the same flooded neighborhood also caught fire, flames destroying at least 50 homes in rockaway beach, queens, overnight. in complete contrast, take a look at times square. this is a ghost town, 100% empty. only filled with high winds and rain. adding insult to injury, we can show you a major transformer explosion that happened in the heart of the city and has most of manhattan in the dark today. the blast here cutting power to some 65,000 customers in lower manhattan. at least five people have reportedly died in new york city alone overnight. now, in new jersey where sandy made landfall last night with 80-mile-per-hour sustained winds, boardwalks and beaches are completely under water and just this morning you heard daniel mention it, we are getting word of a levee breach in northern new jersey that has

flooded an entire town, forcing as many as 1,000 people to evacuate. now, we understand there is quite a rescue under way right now with people scrambling to their rooftops just to get to safety. as soon as we get that video in, we will bring that to you. as for travel, laura and jon, you can bet all east coast flights are cancelled today. the airports themselves on the east coast closed. jfk officials say they hope to reopen that major international hub tomorrow. >> all right, marla, thank you very much. that video just devastating to take a look at. >> they're going to find more and more as daylight happens there. certainly nice in our neck of the woods but christina is also keeping an eye on sandy for us. this storm has just been enormous. >> it really has been. look it, we are not even close to being finished yet. i wanted to start by showing you some video from west virginia where almost the entire state is under an avalanche warning. as you can see there's almost a

foot of snow on the ground and we're expecting an additional potential 1 to 2 feet of snow. right now you can still see sandy carving out a devastating path, moving to the north, packing winds currently. sustained wind are at 65 miles an hour getting gusts to 75, 80 miles per hour. so it's going to take quite a while for this storm to move to the north before rescue efforts are really able to get under way, before they can get out there safely and start to help some of these people. throughout the next 48 hours it does look like sandy will start to move to the north. as you know when a tropical system makes its way over land, it starts to weaken and loses that energy that is fueled by the atlantic ocean. so it will continue to move to the north. as it collides with a cooler air mass, it will start to lose quite a bit of energy so we're expecting it to weaken potentially into a depression as we get into the second half of today, which is good news.

still 65-mile-per-hour sustained winds near the core which is just to the west of philadelphia. no shock here, sandy's impact being felt all over the country this morning. hundreds of flights to new york, new jersey and other airports out there are being cancelled and the storm right now causing problems for people who aren't just trying to get to the east coast. stephanie joins us live from sfo where some people hope today is the day they finally get to fly out and get home railroads good morning, jon. some good news for them. it's a very different picture from last night. the vast majority of flights are actually on time. of course you mentioned the cancellations. most of them you can see are headed to new york, philadelphia and the washington, d.c., area. because the problem is there's really no way to predict just how activity at airports will affect the flights arriving and departing the bay area. last night we got a shot of the board and there were many more cancellations. this morning off camera i did

speak with two women from calgary visiting san francisco. their flight back last night got cancelled but they were able to get one this morning. we also caught up with two men on business from new york who have just switched a flight from chicago to go to l.a. >> to chicago. once we get to chicago, we're stuck there. i live in new york and that's on the south shore of the island and that's all devastated. the power is out. gas leaks all over the place. flooding. i don't know what to expect when i get back. >> reporter: as for the rest of the country, the four airports shut down completely are jfk, la guardia, newark. both reagan and dulles made it through sandy without damage and flooding but airline services still cancelled and no planes expected to land there before 8:00 this morning our time. the best thing to do for travelers is to check in directly with your airlines because information continues to

be very fluid and changing all the time. live at sfo, now back to you. >> thank you very much. we will have continuing coverage of superstorm sandy all morning long both on air and online for the next two hours and then the "today" show will have team coverage starting with the aftermath coming up at 7:00. at 5:09 in, other news this morning, san francisco working nonstop to get the city ready for tomorrow's world series victory parade. celebrations could attract more than a million fans. bob redell is live in san francisco with what's being done to make sure tomorrow goes off without a hitch. good morning, bob. >> reporter: good morning to you, laura. just like 2010 when the giants won the world series, that ticker tape celebration, that parade will end right here at the civic center plaza. you can see just over 24 hours ago the city workers are still out here. i get the sense they have been out here all night doing setup for tomorrow's event. there is one big change. instead of winding through the

heart of the financial district, the parade will start at the foot of market by justin herman plaza, ride a straight shot up market, take a right at mcalster and go to city hall. a company told their supplier we need more orange. sounds like that supplier is having to move heaven and earth to meet the unusual last-minute and in. the city is expecting a million people expected to be jammed into downtown san francisco tomorrow. you do the math, it's going to be very difficult to get into the city. first off, transit agencies are suggesting you buy your tickets now before tomorrow. b.a.r.t. will be running a rush hour schedule with longer trains and more frequent service. muni will have to reroute its lines. they will also add shuttle buses. the golden gate transit will have extra on stand by and

caltrain will be running additional trains. now, if you have business downtown, especially in the financial district, any of the streets that offshoot market, generally speaking they'll be shutting down a lot of those roads, starting at 9:30 and they should be open by 5:00. bob redell, "today in the bay." >> got to get more orange. >> the orange crush is officially ochbn. the big question for everyone, the parade is tomorrow, what's the weather going to be like? >> hold that thought for maybe 50 seconds. good morning to you. we like to tease in the news business, as you know. 50 degrees in novato, 55 in stinson beach. taking you down south, it's rather chilly in gilroy, 50 in san jose. you can leave the umbrella home today. we do have some they can fog you'll have to contend with as you make your way out that front door. mike is tracking that very

closely we give yourself extra time and take it easy, especially if you have that precious cargo, the little ones in tow. 71 for fremont today and 72 in redwood city. it's going to be beautiful here today. 74 for fairfield and now as promised, jon and laura, here is that championship parade forecast. we like to have a little fun in our forecasts. it's going to be on halloween so enough orange. you're going to have people dressed in all kind of crazy costumes. 50 at 11:00 a.m. the only thing that's going to be raining in this forecast is confetti. partly cloudy conditions at 3:00 p.m. as the parade concludes. let's go ahead and take a check on that drive with our highway man. good morning, mike. >> good morning, good morning. a better visibility morning on 101 in palo alto. we saw earlier clouds impairing our view and also construction. both have cleared from that shot.

there will be patches along the peninsula but visibility not as bad as yesterday. that will change over the next three hours. as the sun comes up, fog kicks in. from the hayward side, you can see the roadway. you couldn't 20 minutes ago. we do have patches over toward 880 and hayward, castro valley. 880 as well down through oakland, but the approach to the tri-valley not a problem. we'll end with our live look outside for fremont where there's more fog coming through the truck scales. back to you. it is 5:13 right now. our coverage of superstorm sandy continues. we'll have a lot on that. plus why santa clara county could lose millions of dollars in funding for that new 49ers stadium. ♪

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welcome back, everybody. it is 5:15 right now. the 49ers may be winning on the field but it looks like the team is losing some money for the new stadium. the state department of finance will not reconsider giving it $34 million in redevelopment funding. the 49ers say that money had been promised for the stadium project before the elimination of redevelopment agencies. team officials have until later this month to appeal that decision. trillions of dollars sit islan idle as the world waits for the stock markets to open. >> this will be the first time the new york stock exchange has been closed for two days in a row for weather since shortly after the american civil war. that was the blizzard back in 1888. officials from the nyse and the nasdaq will meet once again today to discuss plans to reopen tomorrow. now, there were reports on cable news that water had flooded into the floor of the new york stock

exchange. those reports were not true. tomorrow is the last day of october. it's very important the markets reopen in some fashion by tomorrow because certain trades simply have got to be closed out by the end of the month. in the midst of all this, a huge shakeup at apple. one of steve jobs' closest associates, a man who some thought would replace jobs as ceo of apple, is out. this man, scott forstall, had been with apple since jobs came back in the '90s. he was central to everything apple did. however, he was the guy in charge of both siri and apple maps and those were both disappointments. in fact maps was a disaster. the "wall street journal" says this morning forstall was asked to leave after he would not personally apologize for apple maps, leaving ceo tim cook to do it instead. apple's head of retail also has been let go. the timing, we understand, more coincidence than anything else. and microsoft's ceo was in san francisco showing off new

windows phones. here's the vice president of microsoft there. microsoft has added some clever touches to these new operating systems, including a kid-only zone, so your child can play angry birds, but not e-mail your boss or delete all your pictures. i wondered where that little feature has been. >> that is very interesting. >> you know what, not just hipsters use smartphones but patients too. >> exactly. and their kids too. >> my son has checked me into places where i wasn't. >> sometimes i think they know what they're doing. 5:18. let's check in with christina loren. >> yeah, the rain is coming but it looks like most of it will come down while we're all sleeping. maybe a rough drive on thursday, but like we've been pointing out, this berth is expected to happen after you go trick-or-treating. 55 degrees in snoem avonoma.

we're at 53 in san francisco. we're talking about a cooler day by 5 degrees from yesterday but we're still going to get that beautiful sunshine for the second half of the day. we are tracking some pretty thick fog right at the surface this morning, dropping your visibilities all across the board. concord, you have pockets where you can only see for a quarter of a mile so give yourself extra time and travel cautiously out there. we're expecting these numbers to continue to drop as we head throughout the morning. the fog will be at its most widespread about 9:00 and then we'll start to clear you out. by 2:00 p.m. mostly clear over the greater bay area. you'll still have pockets of fog in novato and santa rosa. most of the bay area will see the sun pby about noon today. we stop the clock at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow and showers tart to push into the north bay and the sun sets about 6:30 so that's

when you'll want to take the kids out once it starts to get dark. make sure you have a jacket for them, it's going to be on the cool side. but the showers don't move south of the golden gate bridge until 11:00 p.m. that's the good news. most of you and your kids will already be tucked into bed. 5:00 a.m. thursday watch out for a very slick commute across the bay area of the 77 in livermore, 72 in santa teresa and 77 degrees out in gilroy. as we get through friday, temperatures are going to tasta to creep back up. 76 on saturday, 81 on sunday and next week overall looks pretty dry so that's the good news. let's see how the fog is impacting your drive with mike inouye. >> we can't see the east shore freeway from the toll plaza. you can make out the glowing lights but can't clearly make out anything and that is the situation as you're driving on the approach to me. the visibility on the toll plaza very clear. down to below a quarter mile in many spots.

the map shows you looking at the camera shot, that's what we're trying to see down here so on all of your approaches out of the caldecott, 580, 880 through oakland and the east shore freeway is going to be a tough drive and conditions will continue to change. there's highway 37. highway 101 coming down through santa rosa toward sausalito, very tough to see in many patches. i can't even show you most of the cameras we have out here. 880 through castro valley, an easier throw but still patches of thick fog. a live look at the san mateo bridge on the peninsula side is just fine. fremont, we can't see the brightly lit auto mall park sign. >> 5:21 right now. this was a question every parent has to consider. just how safe are your kids at school? well, this morning investigative reporter jenna susko tells us some school districts are overlooking a federal law set up to protect our boys and girls.

this one is called title ix and it requires schools to have a system in place for victims to file a complaint. >> reporter: schools that get federal dollars must have a title ix coordinator to handle sexual harassment complaints. so we decided to test the system. using a standard e-mail address, woo se we sent this message to more than 200 principals across 25 districts in the bay area, asking how to contact theíáp (t& ix coordinator. we even pointed out this person handles sexual harassment complaints. >> we contacted 35 principals in the district and none could name the title ix coordinator. >> i believe they didn't know what you were talking about. >> reporter: we showed how some of its principals responded. i have no idea what title ix is, sorry. and i need to know who i'm talking to before i send that information. other principals said they don't have a coordinator. >> if you had said who can i go

to if i have a complaint about discrimination or sexual harassment at your school site, every principal should have said you can talk to me about a complaint about harassment or discrimination. and if they didn't say that, i'd love to know their names so i can follow up with them. >> actually we did say that in the e-mail. >> okay. >> reporter: and here's another problem. the u.s. department of education doesn't keep a list of coordinators, so no one knows if schools are complying or not. >> it's not just embarrassing, it's scary. >> is this something that all principals should know? >> absolutely. every principal should know. >> reporter: i'm investigative reporter jenna susko, nbc bay area news. 5:23. coming up, we follow the breaking news out on the east coast. sandy causing massive damage, including this mess in rhode island. we will have more pictures and some very amazing and devastating video just ahead.

5:26 right now. welcome back, everybody. victims of the san bruno pipeline explosion may be allowed to seek further damages from pg&e. a peninsula superior court judge making that tentative ruling yesterday. it would allow more than 350 victims of the disaster to seek punitive damages from the utility when it goes to trial early next year. both sides will be back in court. today the judge will make that final ruling. let's have another look at the forecast right now with meteorologist christina loren. >> hey, guys, good morning to you. top of the morning to you is probably more appropriate on a tuesday. 57 degrees at 8:00 a.m. 72 at noon inland. and you'll be at 77 degrees in the heat of the day. lots of sunshine. 69 degrees at the coast. we're tracking some potential showers on halloween. we'll talk about that coming up. 5:26. first we want to get you out

that front door, traffic tuesday. >> yeah, it is traffic tuesday. we're seeing a slower build. maybe some folks are adjusting their schedule because they plan on being sick tomorrow maybe at 11:00 a.m. 101 moves smoothly. we'll show you the roadways are clear but also the contour maps showing a smooth drive. no fog in the south bay. there's the build for 580, guys. back to you. 5:27. still to come on "today in the bay" our team coverage on the deadly superstorm still causing trouble on the east coast. damage in a number of states continues. we'll show you some of the latest video into our newsroom next. ♪

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it is 5:29. good morning, everybody. thank you very much for joining us, i'm jon kelley. >> and i'm laura garcia-cannon. we continue to follow the superstorm that is pounding the northeast this morning. we're getting our first look at some of the damage at the storm that was once hurricane sandy continues to tear through that

region. marla tellez is in the newsroom gathering updates. what's the latest? >> reporter: at least 18 people have been killed in seven states and just about seven and a half million homes and businesses from the carolinas to ohio are without power today. this includes much of new york city. take a look, where this typically busy times square is eerily empty because people have either evacuated or they're just hunkering down at home heeding the calls from mayor michael bloomberg. we also have brand new images of new york's popular subway system to show you. seven subway tunnels are flooded and without power. it's the most widespread damage to that system in its 108-year history. no word yet on when commuters will be able to hop aboard the subway again. president obama declaring major disaster areas for new york and new jersey. this means more federal support for state and local efforts.

and then in connecticut, this is what it looks like in milford. the storm surge combined with high tide swapping streemping s there. according to the american red cross, almost 11,000 people are waking up in red cross shelters across 16 states all because of sandy. now, sandy is also making life difficult for travelers, even those who are not trying to get to the northeast. stephanie is live at sfo with more on why the storm is affecting flights all over the country. stephanie, good morning. >> reporter: marla, good morning to you. you know some good news, i did speak with an employee here at sfo this morning who said really the number of people sleeping here last night is on par with the usual number. if you're in terminal 2, it was a very popular spot for some folks. some dozens of flights cancelled, most of them to and from the east coast. now, this morning off camera we

caught up with some tired travellers. two of them headed back home to calgary in canada, had their 9:00 p.m. flight cancelled. another headed to albany, new york, had their flight cancelled and delayed again this morning. for two businessmen headed home to new york from san francisco, it's been a long day on the phone with a travel agent because they don't want to get stuck in chicago. >> i have a wife at home. >> what has he been telling you? >> she's fine. we're not in a flood area, but she's fine. but of course she's anxious as well. but she knows i'm trying to get home. >> reporter: as for the rest of the country, the four airports shut down are jfk, la guardia, newark and teterboro. airline services still cancelled this morning. no planes expected to land

before 8:00 in washington. we also checked with oakland international. just a handful of flights cancelled this. the message is check directly with your airlines because this information is changing all the time. >> reporter: that is the best thing anyone can do. stephanie, thanks. sandy's wrath is far from over. in just about ten minutes our live team coverage continues on the storm's impact and how the effects are being felt in the presidential race. 5:33. on a much brighter note, the orange and black will be celebrating halloween with that world series victory parade. the championship celebration starts off tomorrow morning and if it's anything like the party they had two years ago, more than a million fans could be showing up out there. bob redell is live in the city with more details on what you need to know before you head out to that parade. bob, good morning. >> reporter: yeah, good morning to you, jon. this halloween gives us two reasons to be wearing orange and

black. here at the civic center plaza, workers are setting up for the massive celebration that will be taking place tomorrow early afternoon. this is where the ticker tape parade will end with a big party and comments from players over the loudspeakers. elsewhere in town a company is putting together the floats. they're putting screws to the supplier for more of that orange frilly stuff they tack on the floats. apparently they don't sell it at the neighborhood store. remember in 2010 when the parade wound through the financial district before heading up market? tomorrow there will be a slight change in the route. the ticker tape parade will start at 11:00 a.m. at the foot of market, head up to mcalster, take a right and end up right here in front of city hall so pretty much a straight shot up market. the city is expecting another crowd of nearly a million people which means getting here into the city could be very

complicated. first off they suggest you do buy your ticket now as in before tomorrow. b.a.r.t. will be running a rush hour schedule with longer trains and more frequent service. muni will have to reroute some of its lines. muni does a lot of service up and down market so you can see how that's going to be impacted. golden gate transit will have extra ferries on stand by between the city, sausalito and larkspur and cal train will run additional trains up and down the peninsula. if you do have business here in the downtown area, they'll start shutting the roads on and off market around 9:30. they should be open by 5:00. reporting live here in san francisco, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> hopefully nothing will rain on our parade tomorrow too. >> my hands are sore cutting all that orange and black paper. >> confetti ready to go. >> i want some origami. good morning to you. i think it's going to be a really good-looking day for a

parade. 46 in petaluma, 55 in stinson beach to start, 50 degrees in san jose. good morning to you in the south bay. grab your jacket in gilroy at 48 degrees this morning. so weather story of the day is the thick fog this morning which will make way to a sunny and beautiful finish. at 1:00 p.m. you can see most of the cloud cover up in the north bay but we'll see a lot of sunshine over the greater bay area. the fog will roll back in very quickly by 5:00 p.m. tonight in san francisco. 77 degrees at 4:00 p.m. inland. bayside 72 degrees and 69 degrees at the coast. your full forecast, plus we're taking an in-depth look at what is now tropical storm sandy. we'll show you why this storm created so much damage. what exactly caused it to come together. two systems came together to create sandy. we'll talk about that coming up. there's a lot of scientific information that might intrigue you. first let's take a look at your drive with mike inouye.

>> this fog is sticking around right here. you can't see the east shore freeway from the toll plaza camera. that is what you would normally see, a stream of lights over to the left just above that approach. so there you go. very tough to see approaching the bridge and the volume starting to build up now. the orange overlay on our maps here, that's areas where that fog is thick enough to be an impact to your drive. i cannot show you the oakland camera where we would be able to see this disabled vehicle. this hazard right here north 880 past high street. i removed the contour data so you can see where the roads are. it's high street. on the approach the slowing is blocked. very thick fog in the area. stay to the left if you can as you're passing pie the high street off-ramp anywhere north of 66. orange back on the maps again, thick fog for 580. 880 through hayward and south into union city, tough to see

into fremont. the san mateo bridge itself is clear once you get past the toll plaza and there's the peninsula side. coming off of the high rise clear here as well but patches farther south. i'll show you more live shots coming up. >> 5:38. our team coverage of sandy continues next. the video continues to pour into our newsroom. some of the amazing images including this one of a crane collapsing. forecasters think 95-mile-per-hour winds were blowing at the time. we've got live reports coming up next. alright let's break it down.

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too bad the guys aren't here we're clear. ok, swarm! swarm! hello [ female announcer ] pillsbury chocolate chip cookies. let the making begin all right. we come back live here. the devastation out there left over from sandy. this is snowshoe, connecticut, right now. you can see the snow on the buildup out there. people in place trying to make sure everybody is safe and the devastation up and down that east coast has been monumental.

we are all over that all morning long. >> as the sun is rising there now. we're really getting a look at some of the damage sandy has left behind this morning. >> that's right. more than a dozen people so far have been reported dead. millions are without power. at this point there's no count on exactly how many people have been forced out of their homes and into shelters. daniel lee is live in cape may, new jersey, where sandy's wrath is still being felt this morning. how's it feeling, how's it looking out there? >> reporter: that's true. we're getting blown away a bit out here in cape may, new jersey. the rains from yesterday are now replaced with these strong winds which could lead to more damage as the day progresses. i want to get to some video first starting in new york city. a fire resulted from some of the damage during the storm literally destroyed more than 50 homes. the problem here is firefighters because of the flooding are having trouble getting to these areas to actually fight these

fires and rescue people. when we head over to atlantic city, new jersey, the famous boardwalk partially destroyed and people had to be emergency evacuated there last night pie the national guard when the shelter they were staying in lost power. this has been a bit of controversy, because while the governor said to evacuate, the mayor said people could stay and it wound up being a very bad idea. and then really back out here live now, emergency crews, now that the sun is out, is just getting a chance to survey the damage and see what streets are flooding, where is it safe to travel, where are these power lines down. we can tell you that right now there are more emergency evacuations going on in three northern new jersey towns so this is still a moving target in terms of the damage and the people at risk all along the northeast. back to you. >> thank you very much. sandy we can tell you also having a big-time effect on the presidential campaign, now just

seven days away. >> campaigns are all on hold right now because of the superstorm. tracie potts, live on capitol hill, with that side of the story for us. good morning. >> reporter: jon and laura, good morning. you just heard daniel in new jersey. the president was up early this morning talking to the mayors and the governor there declaring it a federal disaster area. that is one of the reasons why he's not on the campaign trail. no colorado, no wisconsin today for president obama and no events for governor romney other than a victory rally that is now being called a storm relief event in ohio. he has been soliciting donations, supplies to his campaign offices asking people to donate to the american red cross as the storm and its aftermath and its cleanup and effect are really taking precedence over the presidential campaign. early voting closed in parts of virginia, absentee voting there. parts of the coast of north carolina, all of maryland for the last two days along with

d.c. here, the district of columbia. what does that mean for next tuesday? no postponing of this election that we are aware of. however, it could be really tough for some people who are out of power, more than seven million of them as of this morning, to try to get to the polls. i'm tracie potts for "today in the bay." new updates continue to come in from the east coast regarding sandy's powerful wrath. >> marla tellez is in the newsroom with the latest dough tails. >> reporter: the governor of connecticut just spoke and provided just a little bit of good news for travelers. we'll hear from him in just a moment. just a few minutes ago i showed you this, the rushing waters in milford, connecticut. this is what part of the state looks like. just into our newsroom we are getting word the long island sound has flooded roads as the storm brought down trees and power lines. we are getting word two people have been killed there, including a firefighter. more than 615 thousand people

are without power in the state of connecticut alone. still the mayor is working to get his state functioning again. here's what he has to say. >> we have lifted the travel ban on our state's highways. having that ban in place no doubt prevented loss of life and major accidents from occurring so i want to thank everyone who complied with it. >> reporter: and now switching gears, this is what it looks like in west virginia. snowshoe, west virginia, completely covered in snow. some areas are buried under more than a foot of snow. a woman was killed in a traffic accident there. power outages more than 128,000 people in west virginia without power there as well, so sandy affecting all of the eastern seaboard still. jon. >> it is rough going, thank you very much. it is 5:45 and pg&e is actually sending cruiews out there. >> take a look at this massive transformer explosion in new york. more than 50 employees from

pg&e's northern and central california service area are being sent over to help. in the mean time 100 members of the air national guard left from moffett field yesterday to help out with rescue efforts. local chapters of the red cross also sending people to the east coast to help with the devastation. >> as new video continues to come into our nbc bay area newsroom, we'll of course bring it to you lye throughout the morning, both on the air and online. we'll also bring you the latest on the storm and how it is certainly impacting flights at our three local airports. we want to talk about opposite extremes out there on the east coast, just mass destruction and devastation. out here more beautiful as we go with just a little rain in the forecast. >> yeah, just a little rain in the forecast. i want to start by tracking hurricane sandy, show you where it is and what we're expecting and kind of talk about the origin of sandy as well. what happened is we had a cold core low. a powerful nor'easter that originated in canada dropped in an merged with sandy, which was

actually -- it developed in the tropics where it's very, very warm. so the two colliding air masses, indicative of the power of sandy. so what happened is the low pressure fell to record levels. we had a cold core low merge with this warm system. as a result, we saw 9 fort millibar at landfall, when we're talking about the cold core low pressure. what that means is this is packing the energy tantamount to what you normally see with a category 3 or 4 hurricane right at the center. that is why we've seen so much destruction from sandy. when you get two powerful air masses colliding, that's what happens. today we actually have a very slight risk of seeing tornadic rotation, so we are not done. sandy still carving out a very devastating path. 65-mile-per-hour wind speeds sustained at the center so it's still a strong tropical storm. right now it's moving at the west/northwest at 15 miles per hour and the pressure rivals that of a category 2 storm.

tra tigsally category 1 will have 970, 980 millibars at landfall so that's the reason we're seeing so much power from this system. we're calling it superstorm sandy. the next 48 hours conditions will improve but it is going to take weeks if not months to recover from the damage. we had a record storm surge, almost 14 feet in new york. we had a report of a wave at 32 feet high and we still have lots of runway damage, so check ahead with your carrier throughout the day if you're trying to fly anywhere. here in our neck of the woods we're just tracking a little fog. give yourself plenty of time to reach your destination safely. if you've lived here for any time, you know how to drive in the fog. 77 in livermore. the sun will be out by noon. 71 in fremont and 72 degrees in redwood city. by 2:00 p.m. tuesday, full sunshine over the greats bay area. that rain arrives late wednesday

into thursday. if you're counting on showers for your halloween plans, i don't think it's necessary except for places north of novato. the showers arrive around 11:00 p.m. in san francisco and it pushes south by friday morning. 76 degrees on saturday, 81 degrees on sunday. mike, i know you're a guy who likes science so it's pretty interesting when all the ingredients come together for the perfect storm at the same time. good morning to you. >> i do love science and i think the bay area science festival is going on so check that out. i'll put that information on facebook as well because it's always great to keep kids involved. you're right, this is nothing compared to what they're dealing with on the east coast but our viewers are dealing with this on the east shore. east shore freeway, if you can make out a few taillights here going west, that's your commute direction through berkeley and emeryville. i pointed the camera almost directly down.

looking at the bay bridge toll plaza at the same area, that's right here. so you barely make out those glowing lights. tough to see in spots. coming down the toll plaza, the cash lanes, we've seen a few folks backing up but a lighter volume, especially for a traffic tuesday. back to the maps, we'll show you that the orange overlaid is where the fog will be an issue for visibility. also coming past the coliseum, north 880 at high street there's still a disabled vehicle reported in the slow lane. stay over to the left and they have to move that off of the freeway. there's the north bay, we're talking about all of this orange, all of that fog from santa rosa through san rafael and mill valley. lower the speeds but the traffic volume just starting to build. we'll end with one more live shot. fremont, it's still tough for 880 heading town into milpitas. back to you. >> 5:50. coming up, sandy even affecting late night tv. jimmy fallon performing to an empty audience.

we'll explain next. >> sort of an empty audience on the stock market as well. closed for the second day in a row. the first time we've dealt with this since 1888, weatherwise anyway. we'll look at business news just ahead. [ female announcer ] pillsbury crescents

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add a layer of warmth to your next dinner. pillsbury grands biscuits let the making begin. the time now is 5:53. welcome back, everybody. we've been showing it to you all morning long. superstorm sandy continues pounding the east coast but for some in new york, yes, the show must go on. jimmy fallon taping shows of late night yesterday without a live studio audience, completely empty out there. he went alone and so did david letterman, also had to make due without a live studio audience because of all that bad weather they're suffering through. on the other side of things, talk show hosts jimmy kimmel,

jon stewart and steven colbert all ended up cancelling their monday taping. the u.s. stock markets will be closed for the second day in a row. scott mcgrew, people working frantically to make sure it doesn't extend into a third day. >> if the markets were closed again tomorrow that would be a huge problem because tomorrow is the last day of the month. the day when books are closed are stock contracts and portfolios. the nyse tells us they will run tests on the secondary system just in case the closure lasts through a third day. it's really not a computer issue as much as it is a people issue. you can't get in or out of lower manhattan this morning. streets are closed and mass transit is shut down. ubs based in switzerland says it will cut thousands of jobs. imagine you're in the midst of the hurricane, you get through to the home office on your phone only to find out you've been laid off. paypal indicates it will cut about 300 jobs in san jose. the u.s. department of labor has updated us saying it will

release the october jobs numbers as scheduled on friday. this will be the last time we will see those all-important numbers before the presidential election. and a huge change at apple this morning. one of steve jobs' closest associates is out. scott forstall, who brought the world ios, the elegant software that runs iphones has lost his job. the prime reason is the flap over those terrible apple maps. his duties will be taken over by jonathan ive. the company's head of retail also leaving. now, remember, that investors won't be able to respond to this news at all because the stock markets are closed. >> oh, that is very interesting. >> very, very unusual. >> thank you very much. unusual weather in the east we've been following very nice weather here. you almost feel guilty about it, christina. >> seriously, when you consider 7.5 million people waking up out power this morning on the east coast. weave lots of sunshine in our forecast for the second half of

the day and temperatures that are just perfect. no need for the heater or the ac at 4:00 p.m. 77 degrees yipland, 72 bayside. even upper 60s expected at the normally very cool coastline so it's going to be a nice day. tomorrow temperatures drop. we get some rain late in the day. we'll tell you what that means for your halloween plans coming up. first let's check on your drive on a traffic tuesday. >> good morning, good morning. it is traffic tuesday but we're seeing a slower build than normal. partly maybe biesktd weather, also some folks may be planning ahead to the changes tomorrow, a big parade in the city, the giants, of course. we're looking at 101 past university avenue where this morning we've seen the glowing lights. visibility is okay on the pae peninsula. between san mateo and palo alto, still close to the speed limit. we'll show you the south bay where your northbound routes are the concern and now we're starting to see the build. look at this, north 85 to north

87 shows slowing other the last ten minutes. this will stick around. 85 is slow up to saratoga and there's the jam north of 680 for 101, guys, back to you. >> thank you very much, mike. it is 5:57. some riveting images continue coming out of the east coast this morning. have a look at what we have here. an elevator in hohoboken, new jersey, water pouring out of that. the entire east coast slammed with 13-foot waves. we'll have team coverage continuing coming up. ♪ [ female announcer ] nature exists on the grandest scale... ♪ ...and in the tiniest details. ♪ and sometimes both. nature valley granola thins pack the big taste of granola and dark chocolate into one perfect square,

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first flooding and now fire. this morning a neighborhood in queens goes up in flames as millions along the east coast wake up without power or mass transit. jood morning and thanks for